Hamstring Injury Ends Prior’s Season

After all the concern about Mark Prior’s innings and workload, the right-hander’s rookie season is over because of a bad hamstring.

The Chicago Cubs put Prior on the disabled list Monday with a strained hamstring, an injury that will take at least three or four weeks to heal.

“It makes no sense thinking about getting him back for the last week of the season,” General Manager Jim Hendry said. “He did a terrific job, obviously, but he’s the cornerstone of our future and we’re not going to take any chances with him.”

Prior was injured Saturday in the first game of a day-night doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals. Batting in the bottom of the fifth, he ran to first base after a third-strike wild pitch by Cardinal starter Luther Hackman. He then slid hard into second on a fielder’s choice.

“Everyone was worried about how many pitches I’d thrown and how many innings, and it’s a hamstring,” Prior said. “I guess if I’ve got to go on the DL, I’d rather go on for a leg injury than an arm injury.”

Prior, the No. 2 pick in the 2001 amateur draft from USC, went 6-6 with a 3.32 earned-run average in 19 starts with the Cubs. His 147 strikeouts were third-best on the team behind Matt Clement and Kerry Wood, and he walked only 38 in 116 2/3 innings.

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Boston Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez will miss his next scheduled start against Roger Clemens and the New York Yankees because of a strained left hip.

Martinez, 17-4 with a major league-leading 2.22 ERA, is not expected to pitch until Boston returns home for a series against Toronto that begins Thursday.

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Right-hander Chris Carpenter of the Toronto Blue Jays will undergo season-ending surgery on his right shoulder Wednesday. Carpenter underwent an MRI exam last week that showed he has a small tear in his labrum.... Oakland Athletic reliever Jim Mecir began serving his three-game suspension for hitting Royce Clayton with a pitch. Mecir initially appealed, but he dropped the protest in time to serve his suspension during a stretch in which the A’s play only three games in five days, giving ample rest to Oakland’s bullpen.... Salomon Torres, a one-time prospect who hasn’t pitched in the majors in more than five years, was recalled by the Pittsburgh Pirates and will start today in Atlanta.... Texas pitcher Rudy Seanez was activated from the 60-day disabled list. Seanez, a right-hander, went on the disabled list May 30 because of right shoulder tendinitis and a herniated disk. He had back surgery June 25.